Customer Reviews

Waiting for the Moon

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Though this film has been criticized for some historical inaccuracies, overall it gives a very good feeling for the period and the relationships between some of the most famous writers and artists of the 20th century. Linda Hunt's portrayal of Alice B. Toklas is flawless, as are some of the scenes between her and Stein. It is almost as if you are "a fly on the wall", ease-dropping on two icons of "the lost generation."

The settings are superb and the opening scene of Stein and Toklas proof-reading one of Stein's books is amazing!

A must for anyone interested in the literature and art of the 1920s and 1930s.

Also the interview with the director on the DVD version provides some fascinating insights into how the script was developed as well as how the movie was cast and made.

A must-have for anyone interested in this literary period!

2007 was the 100th anniversary of when Gertrude met Alice, so what better reason to get this DVD! When this movie came out almost 20 years ago, it was criticized by some as moving too slowly and by others for its historical inaccuracies. But when you've seen it more than once, what is most fascinating about it is how Linda Hunt as Alice B. Toklas and Linda Bassett as Gertrude Stein really make you believe that you're a fly on the wall in both their Paris apartment and their home in the country. The proof-reading scene at the beginning of the movie is among the best movie scenes I've ever seen because of how it draws you in to the amazing relationship of these icons of the 20th century. The director's interview on the DVD has a fascinating discussion about how this scene was filmed! And by the second scene, (though here there is a MAJOR historic error: Alice reads a letter from her sister?! She only had 1 brother), set in their apartment on rue de Fleurus, you may be hooked as you glance around the room feeling as if you're an invited guest in one of the world's most famous salons!

It took awhile for this film to come out on DVD, but the colorful settings and colorful characters are now even more vibrant than before!

I have been waiting seemingly forever for this to come out on DVD. I taped it from public television years ago and the tape is well-worn to the point of disintegrating.

The settings are lushly beautiful and I can't wait to see them on DVD instead of a grainy tape. Linda Basset and Linda Hunt are captivating and you actually feel as if you have met Gertrude and Alice. It inspired me to visit their gravesite in Pere Lachaise in Paris.

Yes it is slow. Slow and luxuriant, like the summer evenings it portrays. Enjoy!

At last! For years I've been checking regularly to see whether "Waiting for the Moon" would show up on DVD. I'm so pleased that it's finally available. This is such a wonderful film. I remember setting my VCR to tape it when it was shown on TV one late evening ages ago. I'm glad that I have it on tape, because I've watched it countless times since then. I wanted to see this film because of Linda Hunt, but I love it because of Linda Bassett. Forget about the historical inaccuracies. The filmmakers are playing with the facts and having a great time doing it. Look at it as Getrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas living in an alternate universe, where they adopt a baby and have a car named "Priscilla".
It's all about the relationship between these two clever and eloquent women who cannot find a way to talk about the fact that Getrude is ill and might be dying, and how they finally come to terms with their differences. The look on Linda Bassett's face before she says "I'm sorry, that's the way I am" at the film's climax touched med more than a thousand tearful outbursts in "bigger" films.
I love this film to bits. I hope many more will discover it and take it to their hearts.

I have a VHS tape of this film. It's worn from playing it so much over the past 20(?) years. So many people I've come in contact with have never seen it ... so it's been loaned out a lot, too. I never thought to look until now and what a treat to discover that it's now on DVD. The characterizations, beautiful settings, adventures and historical liberties taken never steal focus, but further enhance, the deep love these two people (Toklas and Stein) had for each other. Some reviewer noted that the film moves slowly. To me this is a plus because it allows the viewer time to savor everything that is going on. My knowledge of Gertrude Stein was quite limited. Gladly, this film inspired me to want to know more and more.

Gertrude Stein died at the age of 72 in Neuilly-sur-Seine in 1946. Sufferng from stomach cancer, Stein had surgery performed. The story told by Alcie B. Toklas, Stein's life-long companion, is that as Stein was being wheeled into surgery she asked Toklas, "What is the answer?" When Tolkas did not respond, Stein then said, "In that case, what is the question?" That exchange matters, because it clearly inspires the final sceen of Mark Magill's script for "Waiting for the Moon."

Stein and Toklas are remembered as one of the celebrated couples in modern letters. The two American mets in Paris in 1907, and together hosted a salon that was visited by the expatriate American writers who made up what Stein labeled "The Lost Generation." Writers from Thornton Wilder to Ernest Hemingway and avant-garde paitners like Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso made their way to be nutured by Stein. However, this 1987 movie, which tied for the Grand Jury prize at the 1987 Sundance Film Festival along with "The Trouble with Dick," is not about the salon, but rather about the relationship between Gertrude (Linda Bassett) and Alice (Linda Bassett). To be sure, Hemingway (Bruce McGill) stops by, but the French poet and art critic Guillaume Apollinaire (Jacques Boudet) is around more often, looking for mushrooms. When they run into somebody on the road, it is not anybody famous, but Harry Hooper (Andrew McCarthy), an American lad going off to fight the good fight in Spain.

Consequently, "Waiting for the Moon" is not about the giddy glory days when the famous rubbed elbows. It is about Stein and Toklas living together and making things work. Their discussion of the precise variation on a word that belongs in a sentence Stein is writing represents the good times. A cutting remark that Stein throws Toklas' way would be the time when things are not going so well, and even if it is Stein's house Tolkas has no compuction about telling Gertrude to go away. How these two fit together is revealed over the course of the film, as well as where the tensions between the two can be found. Stein drives and Toklas plays the navigator, which would be easier if they had a map, and that is pretty much the master metaphor for their relationship. The problem is that all we are impressions of these women and their compliated relationship. There is much more to be said about these two than Jill Godmilow's film chooses to say. The more you know about Stein and Tolkas, the more you will get out of "Waiting for the Moon" because you will be able to read between the lines. However, if you know little, then the little taste you will get here will not be sufficient.

Maybe I just didn't "get it" when I first saw Waiting for the Moon, over 20 years ago. I'm not sure if getting older has given me a new perspective, but this time I found the film to be fascinating at all times.I've read some other reviews, and a few people seem really upset that it's not entirely factual. I regard it as a composite of events that very well could've happened in the lives of these enigmatic women. As such, it succeeds completely. Acting is fine, and I was entertained. I'd totally forgotten the pleasant, almost whimsical scene around the campfire, singing On The Trail of the Lonesome Pine. This is just one of many feathers in the hat of the capable Jill Godmilow. Very glad I saw it again. DVD has no extras except for an insightful interview with Ms. Godmilow (she interviews herself).

The better of the Stein/Toklas films of 1987 is Gertrude Stein and a Companion, which you can read about here:

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The IMDB incorrectly lists it as 1991, but as you can see they both premiered in 1987.

Sadly if you know much about Stein/Toklas (and most interested in this will) you will watch this film and be dumbfounded as to why the creators of Waiting for the Moon misrepresent so much. Beyond that it's pleasant to spend time in the French countryside, and both Linda Bassett and Linda Hunt do a great job in their performances.
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